Global 9.1 Royal Power Grows
Previous Next Page Index *In 1066, Duke William of Normandy, a descendant of the Vikings, defeated the Anglo-Saxon noble Harold in the battle of Hastings in order to obtain the throne of England. William maintained firm control of his land and always had the final say on every topic. *In order to better learn about his kingdom, William had a census taken of the entire kingdom. The results of the census were put in his "Domesday Book," named after the final judgement of God that no one can escape. *Henry II was a well educated and energetic King of England. He developed the justice system of England by making many old customs into laws and establishing royal courts with juries. *King Henry II believed that it was his right to try the clergy in his courts. The archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, disagreed, and the dispute lasted for years. Finally, four of Henry II's knights murdered Thomas Becket in his own cathedral, believing they were doing the king a favor. Henry II denied having any part of Becket's murder but in order to smooth things over with the Church, he pulled back his attempts to regulate the clergy. *Henry II's son, King John, was not nearly as capable a ruler as Henry was. He struggled against three different enemies and lost his battle with each one. His own people even named him, "Bad King John." **John's first lost a war against the French King, Philip II, forcing him to give up English lands on the European continent. **John also fought against Pope Innocent III over the selection of a new archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Innocent II excommunicated King John and placed an interdict on the entire country of England. This put enough pressure on King John that he gave in to the Church and eventually agreed to pay a yearly fee to the Church in order to make peace with the Church. **King John also went head-to-head with his own English nobles. *King John angered his nobles because of his high taxes and other abuses of his power. These nobles forced John to sign the "Magna Carta," or the great charter. *This document restrained King John's power and put him under the control of the law. It also established a set of rights that were for the nobles, and could not be taken away. **This document set the stage for the future of England's government system, as well as our own. **This also helped to establish England's Parliament. Parliament is the lawmaking body of England made up of two houses: a house of lords and a house of Commons. Eventually through regulation of money Parliament was even able to limit the power of the king. *France, unlike England, was not unified, but was made up of territories ruled by great feudal nobles. These nobles elected a count from Paris, Hugh Capet, to be the king of France. The ancestors of Capet ruled France and built an effective bureaucracy, collecting taxes, and imposing royal law. *Philip II was a French king during this period that added to the strength of France. He obtained territories under his control through various methods and he paid middle class officials to fill positions in his government. *Philip II's great-great-grandson, Philip IV, wanted to add more power to the throne for himself. He put a tax on the church to increase his money. The church was opposed to this, especially Pope Boniface VIII. Boniface said Philip IV couldn't do this. Philip had clergy put in jail for not paying the tax. The soldiers sent to get Boniface accidently killed him. To maintain the people's support, Philip IV creates the Estates General, which represented all three classes in France. The three estates were: Nobility; clergy; and the common people. It did not have any real power.